The Late Stone Age (Neolithic Era)
In East Africa the Late Stone Age started from around 50000BC to the first millennium A.D. (50000 BC-1000AD)
This period is sometimes called “The Neolithic Age”.
This period is associated with Homo-sapiens and Homo-sapiens sapiens.
TOOLS MADE IN THIS STAGE
During this stage man made better tools compared to the previous stages.
He made small and sharp tools called Microliths
It was in this stage when man started to domesticate animals and plants.
Neolithic Revolution, was a period in the Late Stone Age when man started to domesticate animals and plants.
Major changes in man’s way of life in the late stone age. (impacts of Neolithic revolution)
1. Beginning of agriculture. During the late stone age man started to domesticate animals and plants in order to ensure the constant supply of meat. This need made man start taming some young animals he hunted.
2. Development of permanent settlement, the development of permanent settlement led to the emergence villages and communities.
3. Beginning division of labour based on sex. Men specialized in hunting and gathering while women did domestic work and took care of children.
4. Development of social and political organizations.as the early villages grew, there was a need for leadership or authority to regulate activities.
E.g distributing land fairly to all villagers, settling conflicts among people, ensuring peace and harmony and the like hence this led to the emergence of different social and political organizations in pre-colonial Africa.
5. Development of arts and craft. In the Late Stone Age, man developed various types of art and craft. These included potteries, cave painting, weaving and carving. Cave paintings were a way of expressing customs and beliefs.
For example, some paintings are believed to have been used during religious rituals. Cave paintings were also used to display what was being done by that particular society in the past. For example rock paintings in Kondoa Irangi in Dodoma Tanzania.
6. The rise of religion, the development of agriculture made man more interested in natural phenomena such as seasons and weather changes. It is also believed that people began thinking about life after death.
These are some factors which led to the development of religion. For example, the people in Egypt believed in many Gods including the God of the sky theat was responsible for rainfall and the God of the ground who was responsible for soil fertility.
7. Population growth, agricultural activities led to the increased availability of food. This in turn led to high population growth rate.
8. Man increased his ability to control and mastering nature.
9. Man shifted from mere dependence on nature to the use of environment resources for life.
